preprints.org > chemistry and materials science > analytical chemistry > doi: 10.20944/preprints202102.0397.v1

Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Version 1 : Received: 17 February 2021 / Approved: 17 February 2021 / Online: 17 February 2021 (14:05:44 CET)

Chemotherapy represents the most applied approach to cancer treatment. Owing to the frequent onset of chemoresistance and tumor relapses, there is an urgent need to discover novel and more effective anticancer drugs. In search for therapeutic alternatives to treat the cancer disease, a se-ries of hybrid pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidin-4(5H)-ones tethered with hydrazide-hydrazones, 5a-h, was synthesized from condensation reaction of pyrazolopyrimidinone-hydrazide 4 with a series of arylaldehydes in EtOH, in acid catalysis. In vitro assessment of antiproliferative effects against MCF-7 breast cancer cells, unveiled that 5a, 5e, 5g, and 5h were the most effective compounds of the series and exerted their cytotoxic activity through apoptosis induction and G0/G1 phase cell-cycle arrest. To explore their mechanism at a molecular level, 5a, 5e, 5g, and 5h were evalu-ated for their binding interactions with two well-known anticancer targets, namely the epider-mal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and the G-quadruplex DNA structures. Molecular docking simulations highlighted high binding affinity of 5a, 5e, 5g, and 5h towards EGFR. CD experi-ments suggested 5a as a stabilizer agent of the G-quadruplex from the KRAS oncogene promot-er. In the light of these findings, we propose the pyrazolo-pyrimidinone scaffold bearing a hy-drazide-hydrazone moiety as a lead skeleton for designing novel anticancer compounds.

pyrazolopyrimidinone; hydrazide-hydrazone; antitumor lead compound; cytotoxic activity; antiproliferative activity; molecular docking; epidermal growth factor receptor; G-quadruplex DNA; KRAS; circular dichroism

Chemistry and Materials Science, Analytical Chemistry

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